RESTAURATEUR DeMORI EXITS NAMESAKE SILVIO’S

Silvio DeMori, proprietor and namesake of the super-trendy Silvio’s on Melrose near La Cienega, has left the restaurant. Pending possible legal tangles between DeMori and his partners, the restaurateur will not discuss the reasons for his sudden departure. “I just want people to know that I am no longer involved with the place in any way,” he says. He has had offers from several other quarters, he adds, and is already seriously looking at another restaurant project. Silvio’s itself, meanwhile, remains open, with the same menu and much of the same staff. Watch this space for further news, both of DeMori and of the establishment he left behind.

CALIFORNIA STEAMIN’: I wrote in this column not long ago about a trio of young California chefs who would be cooking Golden State-style food this summer at the City of Bordeaux’s VinExpo wine fair, to the accompaniment of California wines. Attorney Robert A. Foster of Irvine writes to tell me of a slightly earlier Californian culinary incursion into the great French wine capital: From the 24th to the 27th of April this year, one Alan Greeley, chef and co-owner of the Golden Truffle Restaurant in Costa Mesa, prepared a menu of California specialties at a Bordeaux eating place called Les Provinces, under the sponsorship of Thomas B. Okeef, president of the Los Angeles-Bordeaux Sister City Committee. . . . And meanwhile, in London, that city’s Marriott Hotel is in the midst of a three-month Festival of Californian Food and Wine, featuring vintages from such producers as Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Acacia, Firestone and Iron Horse, plus such California-ish fare as charred smoked duck breast with pickled pumpkin; shrimp with white Zinfandel, yogurt and caviar sauce, and, of course, those old West Coast favorites, Cajun-style steak and tiramisu .

EVENTS: Metropolis on La Cienega has launched a series of open-to-the-public wine tastings, held every Wednesday from 4:40 to 6:30 p.m. Five wines and a selection of hors d’oeuvres will be offered for $10 a head. . . . Naomi Shuwarger will lead a small class of students through the kitchens of Les Anges, Chez Melange, Perino’s and Il Cielo (speaking of melanges) Saturday for four consecutive weeks. Participants will meet the chefs, observe food preparation and stay for lunch. The fee is $180 per student for all four sessions. Call UCLA Extension at (213) 206-8120 for details. . . . Monique in South Laguna welcomes James P. (Bo) Barrett of the Chateau Montelena winery for a six-course wine makers’ dinner on Aug. 3. Cost is $70 per person. . . . And earlier the same day, some 31 local produce dealers and 16 restaurants will collaborate in “A Summer Tasting of California Farms” at the L.A. State and County Arboretum in Arcadia. The event, alas, is open only to the restaurant trade--but I mention it in hopes that its organizers may, one of these years, find a way to open to the public as well.